Iron Gods

Leaving the Hawk Palace, our heroes attempted to find somewhere to use as a base. While doing so, Nisha accosted a local to act as a messenger, and let Sevroth Slaid know that Birdfood was dead. Accidently flashing the contents of her money pouch, including silverdiscs, she made the group a target for one of the local pickpockets. When the pickpocket turned his attention to Camlo, he was surprised to find his wrist grasped. Breaking free, he ran, only to receive an arrow in the back of his skull. Camlo searched the body, finding the 5 silverdiscs, which she distributed among the group.

Finally finding a tavern called the Android’s Piston, they entered. Juha stood a round of drinks for the group, before Nisha tried to troll the tavern for information. She found herself confronted by a local thug, who called her Kittycat. her Wakizashi leapt into her hand, blade tip under the thugs chin. “Call me that again” She threatened.

“What are you going to do about it, Kittycat?” was the reply, as the thug grabbed at the blade. His fingers fell as the blade went through the top of his skull.

His friends moved in to avenge him,only to be confronted by the group. Juha made an offer to them. The situation could be settled with drinks, or joining their friend on the floor. His calm air of confidence persuaded them that drinks were the better option. Juha then settled with the barkeep, and dragged the corpse out of the tavern.

Slightly sickened by the events in the tavern, Kellen separated himself from the group, only to run into a young whore and her pimp. He was rescued by Juha with a flying headbutt, and then asked if they were going to kill this one. When he Juha decined, Kellen asked what made this one different.

After the pimp incident they were approached a a Silver Raven, bearing a message which invited them to Dinvaya Lanalei’s Clockwork Chapel.

The passageway the Raven led them down ended in a clockwork wall, full of turning gears,except for two large cogs where there should have been doors. A fascinated Maddie began exploring the wall, and got her hand grabbed by a gear. Further exploration revealed a switch that opened the large cogs.

Inside the wall, an artistic statue of Brigh lurched into motion and attacked them. They made short work of the Scrap Golem, and as it crashed to the floor the door it had been guarding opened.

“Obviously, I need to make some adjustments to it” she mutered as she observed the wrecakge of her Scrap golem. The party were regarded with suspicion until they mentioned joram Kyte, and the mission they were on.

Introducing herself as Dinvaya Lanalei, she ofered the use of the Clockwork Chapel as a base in Scrapwal for the group and told them what she knew of the Lords of Rust.

Draigs: The ettin Draigs wields two spiky chains with unnerving grace in combat. She’s the thug and executioner for the leadership—the one Hellion calls upon to mete out punishment to those who sin against Hellion.
Helskarg: The troll Helskarg is a garrulous creature and something of the front face of the Lords. She guards the entrance to the gang’s lair, but more importantly, she orchestrates the fights in the Scrapmaster’s Arena.
Kulgara: After Meyanda’s loss, Kulgara seized control
of the gang as its commander, and now ranks just under
Hellion. She increasingly sees the Lords of Rust as her
own gang.
Meyanda: This purple-haired android was once the high priestess of Hellion and the leader of the Lords of Rust, and her loss has thrown the gang into disarray—though none outside of the gang miss her cruelty. Her leadership duties have been split between Kulgara and Nalakai.
Nalakai: With the loss of Meyanda, Nalakai is the most powerful cleric of Hellion remaining in Scrapwall. Vexed by Kulgara’s cocky attitude and growing hunger for power, Nalakai hopes to find proof that Kulgara intends to betray Hellion so that he can engineer her demise and replace her in the role of commander of the Lords of Rust.
Zagmaander: The most mysterious Lord of Rust is the crimson-skinned monster Zagmaander, who is something of a local bogeyman. Zagmaander serves Hellion as an
enforcer and assassin, and even the other Lords of Rust leaders fear her.
Hellion: Hellion is the lord and god of the Lords of Rust. Many have heard its voice or have seen its fiendish visage on the monitors found throughout the excavator, yet none can say they’ve seen Hellion in the flesh. Most believe Hellion to be a powerful fiend (a demon or devil), while others suspect it of being a Technic League agent using a fiend’s facade to sow fear. Others believe it to be an alien, the ghost of an ancient crew member from the Silver
Mount, or even a trickster posing as a god. None have yet come close to the truth.

Departing the Scrapwall Gate, the group crossed courtyard to the Hawk Palace. Approximately halfway across they were accosted by a patrol of Orcs. Growing tired of the attempt to extort money from them, they attacked the Orcs, felling them quickly.

Attempting to deceive the guards at the Hawk Palace, they ended up killing them quickly.. Exploring through the Palace,, they found a barracks room, with three sleeping guards. As they quietly closed the door, Nisha slipped through the gap and slew the three Orcs.

After thoroughly exploring the palace they finally encountered Birdfood himself, who found himself outclassed, as they rapidly moved in. Kellen finished him with a mace to the face.

The assault on Aldronards grave began, with Juha attempting to scale the wall by rope. He slipped in doing so, unknowingly alerting the Smilers in the towers. As they reached the parapet of the wall, they came under fire from the towers.

Maddie’s battlecry sounded out as a bomb miscued, and more pistol shots came from the ground. They broke into the first tower, and took the fight to the ground, while the last smiler guard (in the second gate tower) kept up a steady fire. The smilers on the ground, including their leader Hatchethand, were quickly overwhelmed, but the final guard refused to surrender.
In the end, Camlo smoked him out by setting fire to the floor he was standing on.

Searching the stables (one of the few remaining buildings in the keep) they discovered the remaining members of the garrison, tied up and awaiting the butcher’s knife. Freeing them they sought information on Scrapwall. but before going they wandered over to the ruined chapel, where the ghost of Aldronard mistook Maddie for his lost love.

Refusing to forgive the revenant, Maddie forced the group into a fight with the ghost, which they were barely able to win.

Crossing the river to Scrapwall, they were taken to see Sevroth Slaid of the Steel Hawks gang, who attempted to convince them to help her remove her gang leader, the Smiler Birdfood.

This caused a moral dilemma for some of the group, as they do not see themselves as assassins for hire.

(It Tastes Just Like Raisins)

Preparations began to leave Torch, to investigate Scrapwall and the Lords of Rust. Nisha and Juha arranged transportation with merchant as part of the guard, travelling to Hollow Garden.
The group also arranged sale of most of their robots through Khonnir Baine, much to Maddie’s disappointment. They were also approached by Joram Kyte, who asked if they could look out for a colleague of his, Dinvaya Lanalei, and let her know that the Technic League is no longer looking for her, and there is place for her in Torch if she wishes it.

The following morning they left with merchant for an uneventful first day of the trip. That night Nisha went hunting, and brought back a goat for the cookfire. She asked Maddie to butcher the goat as Maddie came from “a long line of adopted butchers”.

On the second day of the journey they came across a lone figure standing by the trail. Juha walked forward to talk to the Gunslinger, who was looking for job as a guard. Meanwhile Nisha snuck around to scout for possible ambushers.

Juha walked back to the wagon with the gunslinger who engaged in a discussion with the merchant, but they could not come to an agreement. Preparing to return to the rest, Nisha noticed a rabbit staring at her. Surprise that it could approach unknown, she attempte to stab the rabbit, only to miss. (Is this the campaign where I have the net I can’t hit anything with? Yes.) The ninja threw her net over the rabbit, trapping it in the net. The rabbit then promptly turned in to a naked man.

The two began arguing over him being trapped in the net, with the naked man claiming to be a were-rabbit. Nisha called the others over, and was questioned as to why she had a naked man in the net. She told them that he was a were-rabbit, and he promptly denied having claimed such a thing) Asking what she should do with him, Camlo suggested just leaving him trapped in the net, and walk away. Eventually she released him, and he walked off to a grove of trees. The rest of the group headed back to the wagon, thinkingthat Nisha was losing her mind. Nisha observed a dragon rise from the grove and turned to call them back, but the dragon disappeared, leaving Nisha also wondering if something was wrong with her mnd.

On the third day, they reached Hollow Garden, where they parted company from the merchant. In the town they approached a horse dealer so they could obtain mounts for the rest of the journey to Scrapwall. While Maddie, Camlo, and Juha were content to pay market price, Nisha decided to negotiate for package deal on horse and tack, paying at least ten per cent over the market rate, and was seriously considering the offer of chrome plated hooves for an extra twenty gold.

Travelling east to Scrapwal they were able to avoid an encounter with a monstrous moonflower. Acting on the advice of the wagonmaster they had traveled with, they decided to stop a Aldronard’s Grave before venturing across the river to Scrapwall itself. A large volume of smoke rising from the fortress alarmed them, and Nisha was sent to scout out the buildings. She ninja’d over the wall and was able to see some figures playing knucklebones in the yard.

In the town of Torch, the group decided to investigate the extinguished Torch, and the disappearance of councillor Khonnir Baine.
The trail led under the hill by the town, where various creatures were encountered. In between forays under the hill, they visited various sites in the town itself, which led to the sampling of Numerian fluids, and Juha becoming the victim of projectile vomiting. (His revenge came later when they entered a strange construct under the hill)
During the investigation they learned of a purple-haired woman who may have been responsible for the events. Mechanical beings occupied the construct, but they eventually found their way to the heart of the construct where the purple-haired woman was found.
In the ensuing fight, they defeated her minions, forcing her to flee into the final room, where Nisha and Maddie (I’m helping!) brought her down. In doing so, they removed an item that was drawing off the power of the Torch, and reignited it.
From there they found the device that was being used to transmit power to another location after invading the local crime boss’s warehouse, where Maddie unveiled her new weapon. Now they have gathered with the council of Torch in an attempt to decipher where the device was sending the stolen energy.

In the town of Torch, the group decided to investigate the extinguished Torch, and the disappearance of councillor Khonnir Baine.
The trail led under the hill by the town, where various creatures were encountered. In between forays under the hill, they visited various sites in the town itself, which led to the sampling of Numerian fluids, and Juha becoming the victim of projectile vomiting. (His revenge came later when they entered a strange construct under the hill)
During the investigation they learned of a purple-haired woman who may have been responsible for the events. Mechanical beings occupied the construct, but they eventually found their way to the heart of the construct where the purple-haired woman was found.
In the ensuing fight, they defeated her minions, forcing her to flee into the final room, where Nisha and Maddie (I’m helping!) brought her down. In doing so, they removed an item that was drawing off the power of the Torch, and reignited it.
From there they found the device that was being used to transmit power to another location after invading the local crime boss’s warehouse, where Maddie unveiled her new weapon. Now they have gathered with the council of Torch in an attempt to decipher where the device was sending the stolen energy.

Nisha stepped around the two robots, which ignored her, and found a window in the machinery with a message on it. Not knowing Androffan, she was unable to read it and called Maddie over. Reading the message aloud, Maddie found it said “WARNING: Robot Command Core Damaged—Reboot Required!” As she finished the words she touched the screen, and the two collector robots came to a halt.
The two robots were pushed over, and quickly secured for salvage.
Another door was visible in this room, and they opened it, to observe a Gearsman robot standing beyond it. As they moved towards the room the Gearsman attacked, it’s shrill metallic voice speaking in Androffan, a message that Maddie hastily translated into “We’re in trouble”. The full message was “Intrusion detected. Initiating purge protocol 11-321. Please stand down and submit, intruders. Purge protocol 11-321 demands compliance per core Divinity Directive.” It focused it’s attacks on Juha, slamming into him, and playing it’s Neural Inhibitor over him. The Swashbuckler went down under the concentrated attacks of the robot, and it turned it’s attacks to Nisha. Meanwhile, Maddie kept up a constant attack on it with her bombs.
The Gearsman dropped Nisha as a final bomb from a soot-smeared Maddie finished it. The falling mechanical construct landed on Nisha, pinning the ninja to the floor.
Searching the room the Gearsman was guarding, they managed to find a White Access Card.
A third door in the manufacturing room was only accessible with the White Access Card. Through the door they found several more Scrapwall Fanatics and Ratfolk Scrappers, along with two other, more sinister figures.

After the fight concluded the shock of the bomb blast was too much for Camlo, and she fainted. Deciding that three was not enough, they carried her back through the elevator, only to find Juha had followed Sanvil Trett. The group decided to stash the unconscious Camlo in the room with the big golden button. A solicitous Juha even helped to make her comfortable.

The group then went back up the elevator, and took the door to the north, where they encountered more Ratfolk Scrappers, and Scrapwall Fanatics. After a short fight, they left them for dead, and found one loccker in the room that had been unopened. Inside, they found a small trove of tech items..

Pushing through the rooms they dealt to more Ratfolk and half-orcs, before returning to the Thylacine lair. After opening the double doors in the center, they found lightning arcing from wall to wall. Deciding it was too dangerous to attempt crossing, they retreated, and opened the south door.

The corridor behind the door led to what appeared to be a manufacturing facility, which was occupied by two repair drones, which appeared to be busy attempting to fix the machinery.

Resting after their battle with the undead Kasatha leader, the group observed a figure walking across the desert environment in one of the screens. The figure was quickly recognized as Sanvil Trett, striding purposefully across the sand. After a quick discussion the heroes decided to set an ambush for him the curving corridor.

When he reached the room with the big golden button, and the blue table, they heard him say “This is what I have been looking for.” and launched their attack. Trett heard them coming, and was able to quickly cast a couple of spells, that they couldn’t identify. Uncertain of the magic, Nisha attacked anyway, causing a slight wound to him. His response was to cast another spell, and then there were six of him in the control room. While the others were uncertain of who to attack, Maddie stepped up and lobbed a bomb into the room. Sanvil Trett was back to just one.

After taking another wound he suddenly surrendered, offering information if they would spare his life. Camlo pressed the tip of her longsword against his throat, and told him to talk. Trett informed them that Garmen Ulrath was dealing the purple-haired woman and something was going on in one of Ulrath’s warehouses. When pressed for more, Trett admitted that was all he had. Camlo ran her sword through his throat.

After some quick healing, it was time to travel on the “elephant”

Arriving at the next deck, the elevator door opened, to reveal a large room with what looed like for sleeping nests in it. They were soon threatened by the inhabitants of the room when Nisha ventured in.. Struggling to hit the small Thylacines that were attacking, things started going horribly wrong when Maddie‘s second bomb bounced off the wall of the elevator, back towards all but NishaMaddie and Kellen avoided the blast , but Camlo caught some of the shrapnel. With a cry of "I’m helping! I’m helping!" Maddie brought out her crossbow, and rested it on Camlo‘s shoulder (At this point, Ollie made the comment "she’s a gypsy, just rest on her wide, child-bearing hips" which instantly became the title of this episode. Still not sure if he making the in character or not.) The shor went wide, almost hitting Kellen in the leg. Nisha snotted her second Thylacine while Maddie shifted her crossbow to Camlo‘s other shoulder. This shot went wild also, with sparks from the impact with floor showering Nisha’s leg.

As the last Thylacine went down, the door to the north opened, revealing a group of Ratfolk Scrappers, and Scrapwall Fanatics. The two Orcish fanatics charged the group, while the Ratfolk fired hand crossbows at the heores. Our heores moved into the room, quickly dominating the enemy, which was more than they had done with the Thylacines. (It seems to a common theme with the group as a whole, no matter who is DMing – beat up the bigger creatures and bosses with no problem, but struggle to fight the smaller creatures that should be nothing more than a speed bump)